Misunderstandings
by evieeden
Summary: Bella and Sam get their wires crossed. Advent story written for 22nd December.


**Happy 22****nd**** December everyone. The internet is back up and so you'll actually get today's advent story today, although once again, there has been no time to get it betad properly. I hope you all enjoy it anyway and thanks for reading.**

**As I must say all the time, I don't own Twilight.**

**Misunderstandings**

"I think you should be careful, Bella," Leah commented idly as she scanned the beach, her eyes taking in the wolves splashing around in the freezing cold ocean and the imprints hovering around the picnic the pack had set out earlier.

"Huh?"

Lying on her towel and trying to catch some of the few waves of sunlight that constituted a 'heat wave' here in Forks, Bella had only been half listening.

"I said you should be careful." Rolling over onto her stomach, Leah propped herself up on her elbow. "They're watching you."

Her words sinking in, Bella jerked upright, looking over towards the group of girls who were trying to disguise the fact that they had been staring at her. Self-consciously, she wrapped her arms protectively around her legs, her fingers digging into the skin of her thighs just below her shorts.

"Why are they doing that?" she hissed at Leah.

The other girl snorted. "Because they're afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Yep." Leah popped the word with relish. "They're all sitting over there wondering what kind of magic you have to turn Sam's head away from his rightful imprint towards you."

"But I... I didn't have anything to do with that," Bella protested. "Sam and Emily broke up because... Well, I don't actually know why they broke up, no-one does, but it was nothing to do with me!"

Leah blinked up at her. "Is that what you really think?" She sounded disbelieving.

"Well... I..." Bella didn't know what to say. "I mean... he was very kind to me after everything with...Ed- Edward." Even now, although she had moved on, she still stumbled over his name. "But nothing happened. It didn't!"

"Chill, Swan." Leah flicked a pebble off her towel impatiently. "Everyone knows nothing happened." She snorted. "Well, everyone apart from the imprints. You forget, we would've seen in Sam's head if you'd actually done anything with him."

"I haven't," Bella interjected quickly again.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Again, I know. Just like the rest of the pack know and even most of the imprints do."

"Most of them?"

Bella shot a quick glance over to small group of girls. Despite the break up, Emily was there among them and as Bella looked over she caught the other girl's eyes. The vicious glare she received was enough to have her dropping her eyes back to her knees in front of her.

"Don't pay any attention to her."

Bella looked over at Leah to find her glaring at her cousin.

"She's perfectly willing to steal other women's men, yet doesn't like it when she's the one being left for someone else."

Bella decided to leave that comment alone. She knew better than to go there.

"So Emily thinks I've... done something... with Sam and that's why they broke up? Leah, Sam doesn't even like me like that. We're just friends."

Leah hummed in agreement. "But for how long?"

"What?" Bella didn't understand.

Huffing, Leah rolled onto her side so that she was facing Bella.

"You like him, don't you?" Leah asked bluntly. "And I don't mean that you like him just as a friend. You like him more than that."

Bella didn't know what to say.

Of course, she liked Sam. He had been one of the best friends she could've had following the Cullens' abandonment. He had found her in the woods and then offered his support when she would've sunk into depression afterwards. He had always been there for her, and she had tried to do the same for him, especially when his relationship with Emily started going sour. She had liked the other girl too, but her support of Sam and her burgeoning friendship with Leah – who had taken her under her wing – meant that they had never grown particularly close.

She didn't know why the other girl thought that she was the reason behind the break-up. Yes, she had sat and listened when Sam needed someone to pour his fears and worries out to; yes, she had sat with him some nights when he had shook and trembled as his body tried to force him to return to his imprint, the one he didn't want anymore; but she hadn't done anything for Sam that she wouldn't have done for any of the rest of the pack. They had become her family and she loved them all to bits and would do anything for them.

But that didn't mean that she had intentionally come between Sam and Emily, or that she would do the same to any of the other wolves.

Leah obviously realised that Bella wasn't going to answer her question so she returned to the previous subject.

"It's not really all of them you need to watch out for. Just Kim...and Emily, of course, but then you already knew about her."

"Kim?"

"Yeah. Rachel and Paul are cool. They're happy as they are. And Claire and Quil are, well, weird. But Kim and Jared... You do know that before he imprinted, Jared didn't even know she existed, right? Like, he couldn't tell you her name or what classes he shared with her or anything. Whereas she was completely head over heels for him beforehand."

Leah grimaced.

"She finally got him where she wanted and now you've come along and shown that imprinting isn't as absolute as her and Emily thought it was." She snorted. "It's really funny actually."

"But, I didn't do anything." Bella felt like she was stuck repeating the same thing.

Leah shrugged casually with one shoulder. "Whether you did or not isn't the point. The point is that they think you did, which is why you're getting the death glares right now."

Bella glanced uncomfortably towards the other girls again and winced. Sighing, Leah sat up and looked over as well.

"You wanna stick your eyes back in your head there, Em?" she yelled. "You're starting to make us uncomfortable with how much you're crushing on us right now."

Emily scowled, but turned away, deliberately placing her back to them.

Leah laughed loudly in response.

"Leah!" Bella hissed, reprimanding her quietly.

"What? She was being rude," Leah defended herself.

Bella shook her head but didn't say anything.

Leah's yelling had caught the boys' attention and seconds later they were joined by Seth and Jake. Jared and Paul meanwhile ran past them to where the imprints were sat and Bella tried not to notice that Sam paused midway between the two groups before shaking his head and jogging over to where she and Leah sat.

"Hey." He grinned down at them. "Mind if I join you?"

"Yes," Leah snapped, although without the bite to her voice that had been evident when talking to Emily. "You're already dripping all over me."

"Oh, I don't know, you don't really look wet enough to me." With a wicked grin, Jake dragged her up off her towel and threw her over his shoulder, running with back to the sea.

Leah shrieked and tried to wriggle free, only for Jake to dive under the water with her in his arms. She came up spluttering and swearing loudly, and Quil and Embry, who had remained in the water, joined their pack mate in dunking and splashing the protesting Leah.

Seth was laughing cheerfully at Leah's antic when Emily's voice suddenly drifted across the two groups.

"...Leah always has to make a spectacle of herself."

The younger boy immediately fell silent, an angry frown on his face. Neither Paul, Jared nor Rachel looked particularly happy with the turn of conversation either.

It was Sam that spoke up though.

"That's enough, Emily. Leah's done nothing to warrant you talking about her like that."

Emily's face darkened with embarrassment and Bella felt a little sorry for the girl.

Awkwardly, conversation amongst the other group resumed, and Sam sat down heavily on Leah's abandoned towel.

"Sorry about that," he apologised, staring out to where his pack played in the waves. "I don't mean to be so harsh with her, but some of the things she's been saying lately..." He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Biting her lip, Bella shrugged. "I haven't heard anything."

Sam barked out a laugh. "That's probably for the best then."

Bella presumed that he meant that Emily had been saying some not particularly complimentary things about her as well as Leah. He was right. It really was for the best that she didn't hear it.

"You're both going through a rough time right now. " She tried to be diplomatic.

"That's no excuse," he bit out. "And it was a long time coming. She knew that, just as well as I did. To blame other people is just unfair."

Bella nodded and wriggled her toes into the pebbled sand.

They sat in quiet reflection.

"Bella," Sam eventually broke the silence. "I couldn't help overhearing some of yours and Lee's conversation."

Bella frantically tried to remember what exactly they had been talking about and if she had said anything incriminating.

Sam laughed. "Don't look so worried."

He nudged her shoulder with his hand.

"You know," he began slowly. "I wanted you to know, that I didn't break up with Emily because of you. I did that for me. But you were a big part of that decision."

He looked down at her plaintively, and for the first time, Bella began to believe that Leah had known what she was talking about when she had said that there was something else between her and Sam, something more.

It didn't stop Bella from being surprised that he had admitted to possibly liking her though.

She peered up at him, wide-eyed. "Sam." Words failed her as hope welled inside her chest. She couldn't think what else to say. Her tongue had completely frozen in her mouth.

He searched her face and then grimaced, coming to the wrong conclusion. "I'm barking completely up the wrong tree, aren't I?" Damn it!" He cursed under his breath. "I knew I should've said something before now, but I didn't want you to feel that I was only interested in you because I didn't have Emily anymore."

Bella wanted to reassure him, to tell him that she was still his friend, to tell him... To tell him that she had feelings for him too.

They had started small but they had grown over time. She hadn't wanted to confess it to Leah, not knowing what the other girl might think, plus not wanting to stir the pot especially when Emily was sat not ten feet away from them.

But she really did like Sam, maybe even more than like him.

It was a scary, heady feeling, especially since she hadn't had a clue that he liked her in return.

While she had been thinking, however, Sam had taken her continued silence as a bad sign and he abruptly stood up.

"Look, I... Can you just forget what I said?"He offered her a weak smile. "I mean, we're still good, right? Just... forget all that other stuff."

He shifted from side to side while Bella frantically tried to get her mouth to work.

She took too long.

With a wry grin at his own expense, Sam nodded. "I've gotta go and run a patrol. I guess I'll talk to you later, Bella."

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned and strode quickly across the beach towards the tree line. As if his absence was all it took, Bella's brain suddenly started working again.

"Sam!"

Scrambling to her feet, she didn't even bother to shove her feet back into her sneakers before taking off after him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that every single wolf and imprint, including Emily, was watching her avidly. She pushed her self-consciousness to one side.

What everyone else was thinking of her right now wasn't important. What was important was getting to Sam and telling him that she felt the same way, even if she hadn't realised it until confronted by both him and Leah today.

"Sam, wait!" she yelled again.

The shift from sand and pebbles to the spiky pine of the forest floor bit into her bare feet but she ignored it.

She frantically peered through the trees. Sam was nowhere to be seen.

Bella shouted his name once more, but there was no reply.

Hanging her head in dejection, she turned to go back to the beach. She would grab her stuff and then leave; she had no desire to stick around any longer for Leah's questioning or Emily's derisive staring.

A warm hand grasped her shoulder.

She turned to find Sam standing behind her, a hopeful look on his face.

"I called out to you," she stated obviously.

"I heard," he replied.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer you straight away," she apologised. "I wasn't expecting you to say what you said."

He smiled softly at her, one hand coming up to cup her cheek. "I don't think I said it very well. I shouldn't have mentioned Emily; it has nothing to do with her." He pulled a face at himself. "I should have said that I heard you and Leah talking about whether you liked me as more than a friend, and I wanted to know if you thought that it was possible that one day we could be something more. Because I like you, Bella, and I want more." He swore again. "Shit! I'm doing this all wrong."

"No." Bella shook her head sharply. "No, you haven't done anything wrong."

Sam chuckled. "I am. You'd think I'd be better at this than some fourteen-year-old kid by now. What I want to say is, Bella, I like you, as more than a friend, and I would be honoured if you would agree to go on a date with me."

"Yes." She agreed so quickly that he laughed happily. "I mean, I like you too. Like more than friends too."

She blushed at how stupid she sounded, and then imagined just how much worse her confession would have been if it had happened out on the beach with the entire pack listening in.

Sam was beaming at her garbled acceptance and she was struck by just how happy and relaxed he looked. It was as if all he had needed was for her to confess her own feelings and agree to a date for him to be content.

Bending his head slowly, he tilted her chin upwards and brushed a soft kiss against her mouth. She nearly melted against him. Sliding her arms around his neck, Bella tugged him down towards her again and this time kissed him, a long, languorous kiss that made her toes curl.

She ducked her head when they broke apart, her natural shyness coming to the fore once more.

"Hey." Sam ran his fingers through her hair. "Want me to come back out there with you?" He pressed his lips against the crown of her head.

"I thought you had patrol."

Sam laughed. "Nah, I was just saying that to save face after I thought that you'd turned me down. I've got to pretend I've still got some pride left," he lightly mocked himself.

Bella smiled up at him. "Well if it wouldn't hurt your pride too much, then yes, I'd love for you to come with me." She glanced back towards the beach. "In case you haven't noticed, your ex is kind of scary."

He raised an eyebrow knowingly. "Which one?"

"Both of them," she shot back smartly.

"Well," he said smoothly. "We can't have any of them scaring you...or interrogating you to death."

Bella giggled at that description of what Leah termed 'girl talk'.

"Come on." With a smile, he scooped her up into his arms bridal-style.

She locked her arms around his neck, clinging to him tightly.

"You don't need to carry me all the way back," she squeaked as he started walking.

"Of course I do. You'll hurt your feet otherwise."

He got to the edge of the forest and then paused, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

Everyone was out of the water now and grouped around the food. Emily, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you really want to do this, Bella?" Sam asked quietly. "I mean, I know I was a total ass earlier, but we don't have to do this if it's just because you feel sorry for me."

Bella had started shaking her head before he had even finished.

"No, no, no. That's not... I don't feel sorry for you at all. I... I want to go out with you. Really. I do."

A smile developed on his face, growing wider with every second.

"Well," he eventually said. "That's all right then."

Kissing her again, they both took a deep breath before he stepped out onto the beach, still carrying her, in full view of the pack.

Bella bit her lip as she saw Leah's mouth drop in shock.

Oh, her friend was going to have a field day with this one.


End file.
